It's hard to tell for sure, but I don't think people realize what Memorial Day means.  In fact, we have it pretty easy here in this country.  We've never had to worry about a war going on while we try to live our daily lives.  Americans, for the most part, tend to forget that Memorial Day is a day to honor our soldiers of war.  While I may not march on Washington to protest the war (or conflict, or whatever we're calling it these days) in Yugoslavia, I am rather disappointed in our Presidential leadership.  It's not that I don't like Mr. Clinton (well, I don't), it's that he has never once spoken to the American public and said, "Here is why our American men are fighting this war...".  Never.  He's made some excuses, but in typical Clinton-Speak only.  Mr. President, stop giving lip service to this war and try to justify it on a rational level.

At first I didn't care, but then once I started reading news reports from Greece, and Eastern Europe, I started to realize the charade our government was trying to pull.   For some reason CNN doesn't report that dozens of American planes were shot down in the first week of battle alone.  It failed to tell the stories of the Serbian farmers that would stand on top of the hill shooting at American and NATO planes.  Millions of dollars worth of planes being shot down by a single farmer.  What kind of war is this anyway?  I've never even seen the Serbian army.  Perhaps I've just become so against this war that I can't picture it in rational terms anymore, but it does seem like we're fighting ghosts.  So what if we bomb all their cities, what does that do?   I don't know.  I just wish there were some sort of reasoning behind the whole conflict.

In short, what are the Serbs fighting for?  Land.  A homeland.

For the next 30 seconds try to think what it would be like to live in Yugoslavia right now.  There are people ages 17-39, just like this web page.  They have computers, they have cars, and they watch TV.  They go out to clubs, listen to music, and eat fast food.  They're very much like us, except for one thing--planes fly over their country dropping bombs.  Bombs that miss, bombs that explode, bombs that kill.   Their power is usually out.  Their phones dead.  And why is this?   Because of a leader they cannot control, and because an organization that thinks destroying their country, instead of their leader, will somehow end the terror.

I don't know why I decided to write about this today.  Perhaps because I think people ought to at least think about it this weekend.  This is not just a vacation weekend.  It's a weekend to think about, and honor, our fighting soldiers, who do their job, misguided as it may be. 

Be safe, young soldiers.

P.S. Here is a report that you should all read.